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British Empire
British empire
British empire Overseas territories ruled by Britain from the 16th to the 20th century. Historians distinguish two empires. The first, based mainly on commercial ventures (such as sugar and tobacco plantations), missionary activities and slave trading, resulted in the creation of British colonies in the Caribbean and North America in the 17th century. This ‘First Empire’ was curtailed by the loss of 13 US colonies, at the end of the
American Revolution (1775–81). The ‘Second Empire’ was created in the 19th century, with Queen
Victoria its empress. The
East India Company acquired a larger trading empire as a result of the
Napoleonic Wars.
Colonialism increased dramatically from the 1820s. British expansion was predominantly in the Far East, Australia (initially with the penal colonies), Africa and India. As a result of the
Indian Mutiny (1857), the British government assumed direct responsibility for the administration of India. In the “scramble” for Africa, imperialists such as Cecil
Rhodes were thwarted in their desire to create a continent-wide empire by the
South African Wars. By 1914 the empire comprised
c.25% of the Earth's land surface and population. Virtually all the constituent members gained independence in the period after World War II. Most subsequently became members of the
Commonwealth.
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Imperial Ecology: Environmental Order in the British Empires, 1895-1945.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Human Ecology; 2/1/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...Environmental Order in the British Empires, 1895-1945 By Peder Anker...finally human relations. The British Empire played a central role in the...space to the debate between the British mechanists who believed that...
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 "The Economist (US)")
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Imperial amnesia: the British empire. (international perspectives on the demise of the British empire and the nation's current role in world affairs)
Magazine article from: The Economist (US); 3/28/1998; 700+ words
; ...having the decline of the British empire pointed out to him in...for being proud to be British were to do with national...really) and pop music. Empire barely rated a mention...asked about empire, the British are unapologetic. The...
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Our United States legacy: lessons learned from the British Empire: 2008 Association of American Physicians Presidential Address.(Supplement)
Magazine article from: Journal of Clinical Investigation; 11/1/2008; ; 700+ words
; ...populations came under British rule, and the...boundaries of the empire covered approximately...rise and fall of empires, as well as superpowers...years to build the British Empire to its peak, it...years. The British Empire has such a legacy, a legacy that the British ...
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The British empire. (British imperialism)(Cover Story)
Magazine article from: History Today; 2/1/1996; ; 700+ words
; ...city rather than of the empire. I do not know whether...Oxford History of the British Empire which is to deal...old before the British Empire reached its maximum...British Empire into British Commonwealth and of British Commonwealth into Commonwealth...
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THE BRITISH EMPIRE REVISITED.(Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 4/1/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...Oxford History of the British Empire: The Nineteenth...slavery crusade, the Empire's role in scientific...the Empire made to British life. If one had...nationalisms within the Empire. Quite rightly contributors...to stay within the British Commonwealth as the...
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Interview: Niall Ferguson discusses the similarities between the former British Empire and America in its current state
Transcript from: NPR Talk of the Nation; 4/14/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...similarities between the former British Empire and America in its current...College Oxford; Author, "Empire"): It's nice to...really set out to create a British Empire. As the Victorians...glucose rush that fueled British Empire building in the 18th...
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The emerald in the crown.(Ireland and the British Empire: The Oxford History of the British Empire, 5 vols.)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Irish Literary Supplement; 9/22/2005; ; 700+ words
; KEVIN KENNY, EDITOR Ireland and the British Empire Oxford History of the British Empire Companion Series Oxford University Press...the recent five-volume Oxford History of the British Empire. In his foreword Nicholas Canny points...
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The Ideological Origins of the British Empire.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Yearbook of English Studies; 1/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; The Ideological Origins of the British Empire. By DAVID ARMITAGE. Cambridge...opens his important book on the British Empire with a parody of Gibbon...his somewhat arch allusions, the British Empire in the second quarter of...
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A BIT OF BUNTING - A new history of the British Empire elevates expediency to principle.('Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire')
Magazine article from: The Atlantic; 11/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; ORNAMENTALISM: HOW THE BRITISH SAW THEIR EMPIRE by David Cannadine Oxford, 264...tackled discrete aspects of the British Empire in the nineteenth and...in Cannadine's words, "the British Empire was ... concerned wit
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 "St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)")
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"DEMISE" OFFERS A DEFENSE OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.(EVERYDAY MAGAZINE)
Newspaper article from: St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO); 8/13/2003; ; 700+ words
; ...traces the history of the empire, which he says began...wicked German and Japanese empires at bay, says Ferguson, the British sacrificed their own empire. Ferguson divides his...opted them out of the British Empire. He twits the...
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British Empire
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...weakening of the Spanish and Dutch empires, exposing their territories to British encroachment, and by growing...Africa. At this time the British government attempted to assert...control over the expanding empire. In the 1680s the revision...from the 1740s to 1763, the British East India ...
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British empire
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to British History
...first’ British empire, which came to an end with...beginning of the end of the British empire as a whole. That was because...most liberals believed that empires were things of the past. For...19th cent. was one of the British empire's low points. In fact...
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British Empire, Concept of
Dictionary entry from: Dictionary of American History
BRITISH EMPIRE, CONCEPT OF BRITISH EMPIRE, CONCEPT OF. The concept of the British Empire holds...Massachusetts, on 19 April 1775 permanently severed America from the British Empire. The concept of the British Empire was thus consciously rejected...
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British Empire Air Training Scheme
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to World War II
British Empire Air Training Scheme. This was Canada's major air contribution to the Allied war effort. On 26 September 1939, the British government asked Canada to establish a British Empire Air Training Scheme (BEATS) after its formation...
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British Empire, Order of the
Book article from: The Oxford Companion to British History
British Empire, Order of the. This was the first democratic or meritocratic order...Commanders, Officers, and Members. Associated with the order was the British Empire Medal. Of equal significance was that a large number of women were...
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